Sandra Walsh was a stalwart of the Dublin fashion scene for many years, then in 2012 returned to her first career as a nurse. However,she’s now combining both passions thanks to a lovely interior feature of her stunning new home in county Louth
Fashion aficionado Sandra Walsh in the kitchen of her lovely home in Baltray, Co Louth. The floors are oak laminate and the kitchen units were made by Fred Gough who did all the joinery in the house. The lemon vase from Little Strand Antiques is one of her favourite things. Photo: Tony Gavin
When people downsize, they usually stay in the same area as they had previously been living but in a bid to make life easier, they move to a smaller house. Sandra Walsh and her husband Barry did things differently – they not only moved to quite a large house, they even moved to a different county. And far from it being an easier life, they’ve both embarked on new career challenges. And in Sandra’s case, it was the new house itself which provided the impetus for her new project.
The couple had lived in a lovely big house in one of Dublin’s nicer residential areas, Mount Merrion, and Sandra had been in the fashion business for many years – at one stage she had three boutiques in Dublin. But due to the downturn in 2012, she went back to her first career, that of nursing. Then when she settled into her new house two years ago, this time in Baltray just outside Drogheda, Co Louth, she not only realised that she had far too many clothes and could sell them on Instagram, but also the house has an amazing landing – the perfect catwalk on which to model the clothes she planned to sell. “It’s like my new home was made for showcasing the clothes.”